Looking back on a great college football season.

Cheers to a great college football season.

I may be in the minority when I say it, but it’s true.

Unless you’re a fan of one of the schools that fumbled away a chance at a national championship or was a victim of all of the chaos, or Dennis Dixon or Charlie Weis, you should share these sentiments.

Coming into the season, it looked like it’d be the two juggernauts, USC and LSU, battling it out for the national title come January 7.

As it turns out, one of them will be playing in Monday’s showdown, but on the way to New Orleans, even the Tigers couldn’t escape 2007’s wildness.

Who could have predicted the upset that would come on the first weekend of the season, with Appalachian St. going into the Big House and not only holding their own against Michigan, but beating the Wolverines.

Considering how the Mountaineers have dominated I-AA in the last few seasons, them putting up a fight shouldn’t have been a huge surprise. But winning? Another story entirely. You certainly can’t fault them if they want to make the jump to the top division in the near future, because after winning their third straight I-AA (no, I will not call I-A FBS and I-AA FCS, I resist!) title, there’s only one direction to go, and that’s up.

Little did we know, the upsets were just getting started.

While the likes of Florida State, Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame, Louisville, and others had seasons that they’d much rather forget, so many new names rose to the top of the heap by pulling off an upset or two.

Along the way, South Florida, Boston College, Cal, Kentucky, and South Carolina pushed their way into the top ten, with USF, Cal, and BC all rising to #2.

So many more teams who haven’t been relevant in years or ever got a little of the spotlight this season as well.

Virginia was one of the ACC’s doormats last season, but the Cavaliers turned around and rode a wave of close wins to a 9-4 season, which could have been even better.

There were also Connecticut and Cincinnati, who joined USF as unlikely challengers in the Big East, which despite Rutgers (7-5) and Louisville (6-6) both underperforming, was definitely worth watching this season.

The Big 12 North was back in the national spotlight, but not because of Kansas St. and Nebraska, the two teams who’d ruled it for several years in the late 90s and early in this decade.

Instead, it was Kansas and Missouri who would not only rule the division but also throw their name in the national title ring with a couple of undersized quarterbacks leading the way.

There was also Colorado’s upset of #3 Oklahoma, which the Buffaloes rode to a return to the postseason.

It didn’t take long for Dennis Erickson to put Arizona St. back in contention either, as the Sun Devils rolled to an 8-0 start and wound up tying for the Pac-10 title, and merited consideration for a BCS bowl with a 10-2 mark. What Dirk Koetter couldn’t get out of the Sun Devils in his time there, Erickson did, and if he doesn’t get the itch like he has at most of his other stops, he’s just getting started.

It also didn’t take long for Ron Zook to do something at Illinois that he never did at Florida - go to a BCS bowl. Thanks to upsets of Wisconsin, Penn St., and the granddaddy of ’em all, over #1 Ohio St. in Columbus, the Illini went to the Rose Bowl, getting Zook a BCS berth that he likely would’ve gotten at Florida, had he had another year.

And finally, my prayers and those of every Mississippi St. fan worldwide, the Bulldogs finally got tired of being kicked around and started to do the kicking, picking up road wins over Auburn and Kentucky, and knocking off Alabama at home on the way to an 8-5 season and a Liberty Bowl victory, in a season that Sylvester Croom was expected to be given his pink slip. Chalk up one for doing things the right way, which makes me even prouder to be a Bulldog fan.

But through all of the upsets, surprises, and resurgences, even after Ohio St.’s loss to Illinois, it looked like things were going to be relatively calm down the stretch, but down went Dixon, Oregon’s star QB and the Heisman favorite, with a torn ACL, and just like that, down went another #2 team, and so would another before the end of the regular season.

Just as toxic as #2 was #1, which USC (24-23 at home to Stanford), LSU (43-37 to Kentucky and 50-48 to Arkansas), Ohio St. (28-21 to Illinois), and Missouri (38-17 to Oklahoma) all gained and lost.

Funnily enough, in the end, after all of the contenders that rose and fell, the two teams that end up playing for the national championship are two of college football’s biggest names, in LSU and Ohio State.

There weren’t any real surprises in the champions of the BCS conferences, as the favorites took care of business in the end as well. LSU won the SEC. USC won the Pac-10. Ohio St. won the Big 10. West Virginia won the Big East. Virginia Tech won the ACC.

There also wasn’t a surprise with the Heisman winner, despite it being a sophomore, in Florida’s Tim Tebow, with Arkansas’ Darren McFadden finishing second.

I won’t argue with McFadden finishing second, but for him to be as close to Tebow in the voting, that I will argue, because despite his two big performances against South Carolina and LSU, and the excitement that he generates, he wasn’t very consistent, nor was his team.

As for others that solidified themselves as being the best of the best, what about UCF’s Kevin Smith, who was anything but silent this season, rushing for 2,567 yards and 29 touchdowns? It might be a good idea for George O’Leary to get the guy a quality backup, just so he doesn’t have to carry it 450 times again, but even with 150 less carries next season, he could still eclipse Ron Dayne’s NCAA record for rushing yardage (Dayne had 6,397, Smith has 4,679 in three seasons, and averaged 5.7 yards per carry in 2007 - 5.7 x 300 = 1,710, giving Smith 6,389 yards and the record - and that‘s your math lesson for the day).

There were so many other stars as well, big school or small, who had standout seasons.

As you settle into your seats to watch the last college football game of the season a few days from now, big conference lovers, be satisfied, because you got what you wanted, even if it didn’t come how you wanted it to.

Rejoice about the BCS buster getting busted, as Hawaii got ‘exposed’ by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

But, there’s Kansas, basketball school no more, beating one of the masters at their game. Let‘s not forget though, that it wasn’t long ago that master was a minnow, which speaks to the beauty of college football, and reminds some of us to not forget where we came from, because we can go back down just as quickly.

And thanks to these teams and so many others, there’s reason to be excited about the future of college football.

It’s nice to see the big boys take the glory, but it’s nicer to see others rise to the top.

There’s nothing wrong with everyone having a slice of the pie, and everybody got a little something this season.

And it sure tastes good, if you ask me.